Armenian citizen Armen Balyan, who participated as a mercenary in hostilities on the side of Ukraine, was detained at Domodedovo airport, the Russian Investigative Committee reported.
As noted, in October 2024 Balyan was detained at Domodedovo airport while trying to enter the territory of the Russian Federation.
“The investigation established that in November 2022, the citizen of the Republic of Armenia Armen Balyan arrived in Ukraine across the border with the Republic of Moldova, where, as part of territorial defense units, until December 2023, in exchange for monetary compensation, participated in hostilities on the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, as well as in the Kherson region”, – indicated in the department.
They recalled that, according to evidence obtained during the investigation, in August 2024 Balyan was charged in absentia with mercenarism (part 3 of article 359 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and was included in the wanted list.
“During the interrogation, Balyan admitted his guilt in committing the crime of which he was accused, gave exhaustive testimony and confirmed the facts of participation in the armed conflict as a mercenary, previously established by the investigation. The accused explained that during his service he received several injuries. His unit, which carried out military operations on the territory of the DPR, was disbanded due to the fact that there were no soldiers left there, almost all of them were wounded or killed. He received another concussion in the Kherson region, during an attempt, together with other servicemen of the armed forces of Ukraine, to penetrate the bank of the Dnieper River, occupied by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The defendant also said that he only has citizenship of the Republic of Armenia.” — noted in the investigative committee of the Russian Federation.
At the request of the investigation, the Basmanny District Court of Moscow opted for a preventive measure in the form of detention for Balyan.
The investigation continues to clarify the circumstances and true purposes of his stay in Russian territory.
